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A Joseph City boy is hoping to gain the attention of Congress not only for his community but also for all of Navajo County. Bridger Fields, an eighth grader at Joseph City High School, is seeking to have Congress address the impact of job and economic loss to small communities as a result of the impending closure of Cholla Power Plant, a coal fired power plant in his community.
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To do this he is seeking signatures for a petition that will be reviewed by Congress if 100,000 signatures are acquired within in the next two weeks.
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Bridger’s goal is to get an official response from the White House in support of legislation that prohibits public companies from decommissioning or closing down existing power plants without replacing them with alternative energy plant that will provide the equivalent amount of energy. The reason for this is that the impact of the power plant on Navajo County will be the loss not only of jobs and income, but also millions of dollars in property tax revenues.
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On the petition page it states, “In order to start or commission a new power plant there are impact studies and legislation that these companies have to follow. We believe that the same kind of impact studies and legislation should be in place to protect communities from the decommissioning of these power plants.”
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His passion and concern for the situation belies his age, and in an era of technology he knows that he can achieve his goal if more people learn of his endeavor.
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“It’s about not shutting down the power plant but instead replacing it with something or trying to save it until they replace with an alternative energy source,” explained Bridger.
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“If we lose the power plant, we’ll lose Joseph City also. So all the people living in Joseph City, the kids, everything, it will (gradually) decrease in population.” Bridger believes that without the power plant, Joseph City will just become a part of Holbrook or Winslow. Bridger’s family has lived in the small community for generations and has friends and family that rely on the power plant for their livelihoods. But he also knows that those good jobs bring commuters from the surrounding communities as well.
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“I think they could try alternative power like natural gas or just keep what’s there in operation. This power plant doesn’t put out hardly any smoke so it’s not a huge contributor to pollution. I-40 puts out so much more pollution than the power plant. I want to shift the public’s focus to cargo ships and trains because cargo ships use bunker diesel and its so much more pollution, tons and tons more. It’s just crazy to think that this (power plant) puts out a lot of pollution.”
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Bridger is looking to the residents of Navajo County to support this endeavor. To take part in this effort visit https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/save-our-small-towns to sign the petition.
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